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Best non-Leica camera for Leica lenses


Appmax

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I have quite a stable of Leica lenses - which I love. I made the mistake of selling my M9 in January because I figured the new M would be delivered on-schedule in late winter.

 

In the interim, I bought a Sony Nex 5n. Great image quality. Very nice camera but I don't like the ergonomics. I will keep it even after my M arrives, but would prefer not to use it for extended shoots because of the clunky ergonomics. I should have bought the Sony Nex 7, the RX1 or held on to my M9.

 

I head out on a several week trip in early June and look forward to making it a great photographic journey. If my Leica M would arrive, prior, that would be ideal. Not planning on this to occur.

 

Thus, I am considering picking up another camera. I would get the Nex 7 (24MP, better ergonomics), but a new version will be coming out this summer. I could buy the Fuji e-x1, the new Olympus Pen PL5 or even the Panasonic GH3 (which has an adapter to use Leica lenses). I even though of buying a Leica Monochrom, which I would enjoy in the future in addition to my M, but my trip is thru the Mediterranean and I want to capture the colors. Another option is to buy the Sony RX-1 and use it as my main camera (until my M arrives) and use the 5n Nex for wider or longer angles - clearly an expensive option.

 

My main criteria are:

1) Image quality - using Leica lenses

2) Ergonomics

- Wheel to change shutter speed, ISO and EV

- Ease of engaging the peak focusing and focus magnification

3) Low light performance

4) Sensor size - don't mind a 1.5 crop factor but 2x is a bit much

 

My lenses are:

- Wate 16-18-21

- Summilux 35

- Noctilux 0.95 50

- Summicron 90

- APO 135 3.4

 

I have made a big investment in great Leica glass and am looking forward to a great venue for photography - I just need a camera. I can stick with the Nex 5n, which has great image quality, but really find the ergonomics clumsy.

 

Any ideas or advice?

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I am getting good results with the X-E1 with legacy - including non-Leica - glass. The Fuji adaptor allows you to tune performance to a specific lens and memorise the settings. Focussing is by enlarged image rather than by focus peaking but it is quick and easy to use. That would be my suggestion. Have a look at my Flickr stream for tests of a number of lenses with this setup.

 

Regards,

 

Bill

 

Sent from another Galaxy

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Thank you. I checked out your Flikr - some very nice shots.

 

I have read that the Leica lenses produce soft edges on the X-E1. Can that be fixed with the lens tuning function? What do you think of the performance of your Leica lenses on the X-E1 versus a Leica camera?

 

Also, how do you trigger the focus magnification? IS there any way to make it automatic when you move the Leica lens focus ring?

Edited by Appmax
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Sorry for not really answering your question, since you ask for the best non Leica camera.Why not picking up a nice second hand M8 and a few UV/IR filters?

Sell it when your M arrives... Or keep it for B&W or as second body

 

 

It will probably be the cheapest solution in the long run and it will probably gve you the best results, as well as giving you the ergonomice of the M9. Maybe High ISO performace is a weak point, but with your fast lenses that should not be an issue.

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Sorry for not really answering your question, since you ask for the best non Leica camera.Why not picking up a nice second hand M8 and a few UV/IR filters?

Sell it when your M arrives... Or keep it for B&W or as second body

 

 

It will probably be the cheapest solution in the long run and it will probably gve you the best results, as well as giving you the ergonomice of the M9. Maybe High ISO performace is a weak point, but with your fast lenses that should not be an issue.

 

definitely the best solution, right here!!

 

i have a Ricoh GXR and really dig it....but the M8 blows it away. For the prices they go for now....there's no excuse to not try to buy one if one can!

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Um... Reliability. Build quality. Low Mp. Un-repairability. Coffee stains. Age. Oh yes... and UV/IR filters...

 

Regards,

 

Bill

 

Sent from another Galaxy

 

MEH! no need to exaggerate. the only issues are LCD screen. The rest of the camera is FULLY repairable. i've had no problems with mine...at all. you forgot to mention that it has image quality JUST as good as any M9.....and better if we're talking B&W.

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I have made a big investment in great Leica glass and am looking forward to a great venue for photography - I just need a camera.

 

Buy another M9 as a temporary fix maybe?

 

Otherwise I think you are trying to force a match made in heaven onto your Leica lenses. Square peg in round hole is the analogy that comes to mind because whatever you get will be a compromise for a proper Leica body, and you will use it knowing it is a compromise and a second best. That has to affect your photography. Sure it is fun to try Leica lenses on other camera's, but I never heard of anybody ever saying they would sell their Leica body in order to use them exclusively on a Fuji or Sony etc. So just don't got down that path.

 

So my advice would be to go down another path entirely (unless you got an M9) and not try to find something similar to your M when it arrives, but something that you can keep to do all the things an M can't do, another system in other words. So not a Fuji X1 pro etc, that is just another M type of camera. Better would be an Olympus OMD and a couple of prime lenses, or a long tele as well. It will do all the things an M can't do, it offers superb image quality, Olympus's top lenses are very nearly as good as Leica, it is small, and ergonomic. And although I have said not to force a match made in heaven, it will yake your M lenses and they can be used with the camera's image stabilisation, and not many other alternatives can do that. Imagine, a stabilised M lens, Leica will be getting the same idea, in three or four camera's time.......

 

Steve

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MEH! no need to exaggerate. the only issues are LCD screen. The rest of the camera is FULLY repairable. i've had no problems with mine...at all. you forgot to mention that it has image quality JUST as good as any M9.....and better if we're talking B&W.

 

Exactly!

The LCD issue is not even functional, more cosmetic. I had it and could live with it. Of course I could not resist the offer from Leica to upgrade to a new M9 for a small price. It was actually a bonus for me. I sold the M9 and bought an other M8 for a nice profit. If it would happen to my old 5D MkI I would have been happy to use it as it was, even if Canon can not service it anymore.

 

All the other issues can be fixed. Main inconvenience on the M8 are the UV/IR filters. They can be bought dirt cheap on the second hand market now.

 

So if you buy a M8 now and resell it in 6 months the cost will be probably near zero, maybe you can even make a profit. Buy a recent model just out of warranty or with warranty and you can participate in the lottery to upgrade to a brand new M-E (if you are so lucky to have the LCD issue) :cool:

 

Any new camera alternative will loose 30% of its value or more in the same 6 months.

 

Just my two cents of course....

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I sold my Nex7 and bought a Nex 6 mainly because of ergonomics. The NEX7 has the tri-navi controls which I found cumbersome. The Nex6 has the same internal viewfinder as the 7, but has a control wheel for shutter speed (when in shutter priority ) which is right at your right thumb. This makes all the difference to me when shooting with M lenses. The Nex6 has lower resolution (the same as the Nex5) but slightly better high-ISO performance. And at the time I did the change selling the used Nex7 was about the same value as a new Nex6.

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Buy another M9 as a temporary fix maybe?

 

. Sure it is fun to try Leica lenses on other camera's, but I never heard of anybody ever saying they would sell their Leica body in order to use them exclusively on a Fuji or Sony etc. So just don't got down that path.

 

Steve

 

 

Let me be the first. I sold my M8 and replaced it with a Sony NEX 7 and haven't looked back. For landscape work the accurate framing and viewing is a great improvement. I prefer the magnified focusing and direct viewing with wide and long lenses. It's not perfect but it is a step in the right direction. The M lenses are a great complement. The new M provides these benefits as well but for an extra 5 or 6 grand that I can't justify.

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I am still using a Ricoh GXR with A12 mount and enjoying the experience and would still recommend it. This combination can be used with wide angle lenses such as a CV 15 mm f4.5 lens without any issues and should suit your WATE. There were previous wide angle issues with M series lenses and Nex cameras which may have been resolved. I am intending to go full frame one day with the GXR becoming a backup camera and also offering extended focal length options via its cropped 1.5 sensor.

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I haven't got one yet, but on the spec sheet the E-P5 looks like a fine camera. It isn't as versatile as the OMD, but it is cheaper and should have similar image quality. And of course the EVF-2 viewfinder will fit both the E-P5 and Leica M, and perhaps even the new EVF-4 will fit the M as well.

 

Steve

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snip...

 

I have read that the Leica lenses produce soft edges on the X-E1. Can that be fixed with the lens tuning function? What do you think of the performance of your Leica lenses on the X-E1 versus a Leica camera?

 

I have been trying to get info on this, the XE-1 seems very nice to handle but there are a few reports of problems with such as the 15mm Voigtlander and 21mm Elmarits around, it would be good to have some first hand experience we can trust!

I didn't like the EVF on the Ricoh GXR when I tried it, and with it on there was no shoe available, whereas the EVF on the Nex 7 was very good. I fancy using the EVF for focussing and a brighlinee finder for viewing/exposing so the Nex 6 looks like a good idea with good evf and a shoe, and a sensor which, probably by chance, seems to cope with the older M wide angles OK, shame it hasn't got a nice dial on top to change the shutter speed.

 

Gerry

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I have quite a stable of Leica lenses - which I love. I made the mistake of selling my M9 in January because I figured the new M would be delivered on-schedule in late winter.

 

In the interim, I bought a Sony Nex 5n. Great image quality. Very nice camera but I don't like the ergonomics. I will keep it even after my M arrives, but would prefer not to use it for extended shoots because of the clunky ergonomics. I should have bought the Sony Nex 7, the RX1 or held on to my M9.

 

I head out on a several week trip in early June and look forward to making it a great photographic journey. If my Leica M would arrive, prior, that would be ideal. Not planning on this to occur.

 

Thus, I am considering picking up another camera. I would get the Nex 7 (24MP, better ergonomics), but a new version will be coming out this summer. I could buy the Fuji e-x1, the new Olympus Pen PL5 or even the Panasonic GH3 (which has an adapter to use Leica lenses). I even though of buying a Leica Monochrom, which I would enjoy in the future in addition to my M, but my trip is thru the Mediterranean and I want to capture the colors. Another option is to buy the Sony RX-1 and use it as my main camera (until my M arrives) and use the 5n Nex for wider or longer angles - clearly an expensive option.

 

My main criteria are:

1) Image quality - using Leica lenses

2) Ergonomics

- Wheel to change shutter speed, ISO and EV

- Ease of engaging the peak focusing and focus magnification

3) Low light performance

4) Sensor size - don't mind a 1.5 crop factor but 2x is a bit much

 

My lenses are:

- Wate 16-18-21

- Summilux 35

- Noctilux 0.95 50

- Summicron 90

- APO 135 3.4

 

I have made a big investment in great Leica glass and am looking forward to a great venue for photography - I just need a camera. I can stick with the Nex 5n, which has great image quality, but really find the ergonomics clumsy.

 

Any ideas or advice?

 

 

Based on my experience with D800E, M9, NEX-5N with EVF, NEX-7, and OM-D E-M5 I would suggest for you the E-P5 with VF-4.

 

The NEX-5N works extremely well with your Leica lenses, except for the 35 mm lens that may produce a slight red edge. The WATE is fine. Both NEX-6,7 are worse for WA.

 

The E-P5 has the same excellent sensor and IBIS as the OM-D E-M5 but other improvements as well. Also the VF-4 is the better follow-on model to the VF-2 that can be used on the M240. Hopefully, eventually the VF-4 will work on the M240 as well.

Edited by k-hawinkler
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